Robert L. Hudson

Robert L. Hudson

1927-2021

Iowa City- Robert L. Hudson, 93, formerly of the Iowa City area, died Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at his home in Seal Beach, Calif.

Graveside service will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. All family and friends are welcome. To share a thought, memory or condolence with his family, please visit the funeral home website at www.gayandciha.com. 

Robert Leroy Hudson was born June 9, 1927, in Talleyrand, Iowa, the son of Leroy and Vera M. (Young) Abraham. Vera later married Cecil Hudson and the family moved to Iowa City, where he attended public schools graduating from City High with the Class of 1944. He entered the U.S. Army and served two years in Japan after World War II. Returning to Iowa City and his studies, he graduated from the University of Iowa with his degree in civil engineering. He then married and moved to Danville, Ill., designed and built the family home and worked for General Motors eight years before divorcing and moving to California in 1959. He worked for Riverside Steel Fabrication in Santa Fe Springs as production manager until his retirement at age 55. He then became an entrepreneur designing, building and selling a condominium complex in Long Beach, Calif., near the ocean and investing in real estate throughout Orange county. He enjoyed racing midget cars as a young adult. He was an avid golfer and runner. Later in life, he earned a pilot's license and enjoyed flying his own planes and designed an experimental airplane he never quite finished building. He enjoyed attending the annual Oshkosh, Wis., EAA aviation extravaganza. He traveled extensively.

He is survived by his children, Sherry Grable (Wayne Hartwig) of Solon, Iowa, Terry (Ramonne) Hudson of Davie, Fla., Robert (Mary) Hudson of Fairfax, Iowa, and Jim Hudson of Iowa City, Iowa. Later in life, he had a son, Ryan Hudson. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Heather Carrizales, Marcy (Kurt) Weber, Eric (Brittney) Hudson and Sonia (Raul) Riveros; six great-grandchildren, Maya, Cole, Ava and Cade Carrizales, Whitney and Kalli

Weber; brother, Dan Hudson of Iowa City; sister, Donna Mattes of Tiffin, Iowa, and special friends, Don Thompson, Alfred (Freddie) Monteon and Jenny Rach. He was preceded in death by his parents.